Viewing Actual Start and Finish Dates

Actual start and done dates for each plan item are captured automatically by LiquidPlanner and displayed in the plan item's edit pane.  (Double-click on a plan item to open its edit pane.) 

• These dates are recorded automatically for you, but you can update them manually if necessary.  The exception is that you can't manually update a container's (project, sub-folder or package) start date, since it is calculated from a task within the container.
• These dates are captured in plan exports, whereas timesheet exports capture only done dates. 

Actual Start Date

The actual start date for a plan item is displayed in the Options > Reporting area of the edit pane: 

• The default Started On date for a task is the date that progress was first logged to that task.  
• The Started On date for a container (project, sub-folder or package) is derived from the earliest Started On date for any task in the container.  Until time is logged to at least one task in the container, you won't even see an actual date displayed for the container.  
• You can't edit the Started On date for a container because it is required to remain in sync with the earliest Started On date for any task in that container.       
• Don't mistake the Started On field for a way to to control the start date for the remaining effort of a task or container!  This is only for purposes of historical reporting.  The start date for remaining effort is calculated for you according to the standard rules of priority-based scheduling.  

Done Date

The done date for a plan item is displayed in the Work area of the edit pane: 

• The Done On date for a task is the date that the task is marked done. 
• The Done On date for a container (project, sub-folder or package) is the date that the container itself is marked done.  (Note that  LiquidPlanner does not automatically mark a container done just because all tasks within that container have been marked done.)